Beyond line of sight waveform and line of sight waveform software-defined radio

ABSTRACT

A system may include a node. The node may include a first software-defined radio (SDR) configured to support transmit and receive communications using a beyond line of sight (BLOS) waveform. The node may include a second SDR to support transmit and receive communications using a line of sight waveform while simultaneously being configured to support receive communications using a narrowband (NB) ultra high frequency (UHF) satellite communication (SATCOM) waveform. The node may include a SATCOM antenna configured to transmit and receive the communications using the BLOS waveform and to receive the communications using the NB UHF SATCOM waveform. The node may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) and triplexer assembly. The first and second SDRs may share the SATCOM antenna and the LNA and triplexer assembly.

BACKGROUND

Currently, single channel radios support both line of sight (LOS) andbeyond line of sight (BLOS) waveforms but cannot communicate with bothwaveforms simultaneously.

SUMMARY

In a further aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosedherein are directed to a system. The system may include a node. The nodemay include a first software-defined radio (SDR) configured to supporttransmit and receive communications using a beyond line of sight (BLOS)waveform. The node may include a second SDR to support transmit andreceive communications using a line of sight waveform whilesimultaneously being configured to support receive communications usinga narrowband (NB) ultra high frequency (UHF) satellite communication(SATCOM) waveform. The node may include a SATCOM antenna configured totransmit and receive the communications using the BLOS waveform and toreceive the communications using the NB UHF SATCOM waveform. The nodemay include a low noise amplifier (LNA) and triplexer assembly. Thefirst and second SDRs may share the SATCOM antenna and the LNA andtriplexer assembly.

In a further aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosedherein are directed to a method. The method may include: supporting, bya first software-defined radio (SDR) of a node, transmit and receivecommunications using a beyond line of sight (BLOS) waveform; andsupporting, by a second SDR of the node, transmit and receivecommunications using a line of sight waveform while simultaneouslysupporting receive communications using a narrowband (NB) ultra highfrequency (UHF) satellite communication (SATCOM) waveform, wherein thenode includes a SATCOM antenna configured to transmit and receive thecommunications using the BLOS waveform and to receive the communicationsusing the NB UHF SATCOM waveform, wherein the node includes a low noiseamplifier (LNA) and triplexer assembly, wherein the first SDR and thesecond SDR share the SATCOM antenna and the LNA and triplexer assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Implementations of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be betterunderstood when consideration is given to the following detaileddescription thereof. Such description makes reference to the includeddrawings, which are not necessarily to scale, and in which some featuresmay be exaggerated and some features may be omitted or may berepresented schematically in the interest of clarity. Like referencenumerals in the drawings may represent and refer to the same or similarelement, feature, or function. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to theinventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a view of an exemplary node of the system of FIG. 1 of anexemplary embodiment according to the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

FIG. 3 is a view of an exemplary cryptographic subsystem (CSS) of thenode of FIG. 2 of an exemplary embodiment according to the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 4 is a view of an exemplary node of the system of FIG. 1 of anexemplary embodiment according to the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

FIG. 5 is a partial view of the node of FIG. 4 of an exemplaryembodiment according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 6 is a view of an exemplary node of the system of FIG. 1 of anexemplary embodiment according to the inventive concepts disclosedherein.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method according tothe inventive concepts disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein in detail, it is to be understood that the inventiveconcepts are not limited in their application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangement of the components or steps ormethodologies set forth in the following description or illustrated inthe drawings. In the following detailed description of embodiments ofthe instant inventive concepts, numerous specific details are set forthin order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventiveconcepts. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart having the benefit of the instant disclosure that the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known features may not be described indetail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure. Theinventive concepts disclosed herein are capable of other embodiments orof being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is forthe purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As used herein a letter following a reference numeral is intended toreference an embodiment of the feature or element that may be similar,but not necessarily identical, to a previously described element orfeature bearing the same reference numeral (e.g., 1, 1 a, 1 b). Suchshorthand notations are used for purposes of convenience only, andshould not be construed to limit the inventive concepts disclosed hereinin any way unless expressly stated to the contrary.

Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to aninclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or Bis satisfied by anyone of the following: A is true (or present) and B isfalse (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (orpresent), and both A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of embodiments of the instant inventive concepts. This isdone merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the inventiveconcepts, and “a” and “an” are intended to include one or at least oneand the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that itis meant otherwise.

Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment,” or “someembodiments” means that a particular element, feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.The appearances of the phrase “in some embodiments” in various places inthe specification are not necessarily all referring to the sameembodiment, and embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed mayinclude one or more of the features expressly described or inherentlypresent herein, or any combination or sub-combination of two or moresuch features, along with any other features which may not necessarilybe expressly described or inherently present in the instant disclosure.

Broadly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein aredirected to a method and a system including at least onesoftware-defined radio (SDR) configured to communicate over at least onechannel by using at least one BLOS waveform and/or at least one LOSwaveform. For example, the two SDRs may be configured to communicatewith two BLOS waveforms (e.g., a Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)waveform and a narrowband (NB) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellitecommunication (SATCOM) waveform). The MUOS waveform may use 5 megahertz(MHz) bandwidth, and the NB UHF SATCOM waveform may use 5 kilohertz(kHz) or 25 kHz bandwidth. For example, two SDRs may be collectivelyconfigured to communicate by using two BLOS waveforms and at least oneLOS waveform.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, an exemplary embodiment of a system 100according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein is depicted. Thesystem 100 may be implemented as any suitable system, such as a network.The system 100 may include at least one satellite 102, at least oneradio access node (RAN) 104 (sometimes referred to as a base station ora ground station), and/or at least one node 106, some or all of whichmay be communicatively coupled at any given time. For example, thesatellite's 102 antennas may form a plurality of beams configured totransmit signals to the RANs 104 and the nodes 106. For example, each ofthe RANs 104 and the nodes 106 may transmit communications to andreceive communications from the satellites 102. For example, each of thenodes 106 may be configured to communicate directly with some of theRANs 104 and/or ground stations.

In an exemplary embodiment, some or all of the satellites 102 may beconfigured to support a MUOS waveform only, a UHF SATCOM waveform only,or a combination of UHF SATCOM and MUOS waveforms. Some of the groundstations (e.g., 104) may be configured to only support a MUOS waveformwhile other of the ground stations may be configured to only support aUHF SATCOM waveform. For example, a MUOS satellite may be configured tocommunicate with a BLOS SDR of the node 106 and at least one RAN 104,and a UHF SATCOM satellite may be configured to communicate with anotherSDR of the node 106 and a different ground station (e.g., configured tosupport a UHF SATCOM waveform).

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the node 106 may be any suitablenetwork node, such as a terminal (e.g., a vehicle (e.g., an aircraft, awatercraft, a submersible craft, an automobile, a spacecraft, asatellite, and/or a train) or a manpack). For example, as shown in FIG.2, the node 106 may include at least one SDR 202, at least one externalpower amplifier 228, at least one low noise amplifier (LNA) andtriplexer assembly 230 (e.g., including an LNA and a triplexer), and/orat least one antenna 224, some or all of which may be communicativelycoupled at any given time.

As shown in FIG. 2, the SDR 202 may include at least one modem 204, atleast one transceiver and receiver assembly 232, and/or at least oneinformation security (INFOSEC) system 234, some or all of which may becommunicatively coupled at any given time. In some embodiments, the SDR202 may be an ARC-210 SDR.

In some embodiments, the SDR 202 may be configured to communicate overat least one channel (e.g., one or multiple channels) by using two BLOSwaveforms (e.g., an MUOS waveform and a NB UHF SATCOM waveform). The SDR202 may be configured to transmit encrypted communications over some orall of the multiple channels to a satellite 102 and on to a RAN 104. TheSDR 202 may be configured to receive encrypted communications over someor all of the multiple channels from the RAN 104 via the satellite 102.The SDR 202 may be configured to simultaneously transmit and receiveencrypted communications over the multiple channels.

The modem 204 may include at least one processor (e.g., at least onegeneral purpose processor (e.g., at least one waveform general purposeprocessor 206) and/or at least one field-programmable gate array (FPGA)(e.g., at least one waveform FPGA 208)), memory, at least onedigital-to-analog converter (D2A) 210, at least one (e.g., two)analog-to-digital converter (A2D) 212, and/or at least one switch 214,some or all of which may be communicatively coupled at any given time.

The at least one processor of the modem 204 may be implemented as anysuitable type and number of processors. For example, the at least oneprocessor may include at least one general purpose processor (e.g., atleast one central processing unit (CPU)), at least one digital signalprocessor (DSP), at least one application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), and/or at least one field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The atleast one processor may be configured to perform (e.g., collectivelyperform if more than one processor) any or all of the operationsdisclosed throughout. The at least one processor may be configured torun various software applications or computer code stored (e.g.,maintained) in a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., memory)and configured to execute various instructions or operations. Forexample, the at least one processor may be configured to process, inparallel, the received encrypted communications and to-be-transmittedencrypted communications that become the transmitted encryptedcommunications.

The transceiver and receiver assembly 232 may include at least one(e.g., two) common receiver-exciter (CRE) 216A, 216B, at least one frontend 218, at least one power amplifier (e.g., at least one internal poweramplifier 220), and/or at least one receiver (e.g., at least oneauxiliary receiver 222), some or all of which may be communicativelycoupled. CREs are sometimes referred to as transmitters, receivers,and/or transceivers.

The INFOSEC system 234 may include at least one processor (e.g., atleast one red processor 236 and/or at least one control processor 238)and/or at least one cryptographic subsystem (CSS) 226, some or all ofwhich may be communicatively coupled. For example, the red processor 236may interface with a host platform of the node 106 for exchanging datatraffic. For example, the control processor 238 may be used to configurethe SDR 202 radio configuration and mode setting.

The CSS 226 may be used for transmission security (TRANSEC),communications security (COMSEC), and/or authentication. The CSS 226 maybe configured to use particular spreading factors for the transmittedencrypted communications. As shown in FIG. 3, the CSS 226 may include atleast one processor 302 and memory 304, some or all of which may becommunicatively coupled at any given time. The at least one processor302 may be implemented as any suitable type and number of processors.For example, the at least one processor 302 may include at least onegeneral purpose processor (e.g., at least one central processing unit(CPU)), at least one digital signal processor (DSP), at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or at least onefield-programmable gate array (FPGA). The at least one processor 302 maybe configured to perform (e.g., collectively perform if more than oneprocessor) any or all of the operations disclosed throughout. The atleast one processor may 302 be configured to run various softwareapplications (e.g., cryptographic equipment application(s) (CEA(s))) orcomputer code stored (e.g., maintained) in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium (e.g., memory 304) and configured to executevarious instructions or operations. All information exchanged over thesystem may be encrypted. For example, the modem 204 may be connected tothe CSS 226 that encrypts and decrypts the traffic stream. The waveformgeneral purpose processor 206 may pick up the encrypted traffic from theCSS 226 and forwards the encrypted traffic over an appropriateradiofrequency (RF) channel and similarly on the receive side, theprocessor 206 may get the despread encrypted traffic from the FPGA 208and forward the traffic to the CSS 226 for decryption.

The at least one antenna 224 may be configured to transmit and/orreceive communications.

In some embodiments, the MUOS waveform may be a slotted code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA) direct sequence spread spectrum waveform, whichmay have a 10-millisecond frame and each frame may have 15 slots. TheMUOS waveform may be a military waveform. For example, two 40 MHzportions of spectrum may be allocated, with one portion for transmit andthe other for receive, and the two portions may be separated by a 20 MHzguard band.

In some embodiments, the NB UHF SATCOM waveform may use 5 kilohertz(kHz) or 25 kHz bandwidth.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-6, an exemplary embodiment of the node 106 ofthe system 100 of FIG. 1 according to the inventive concepts disclosedherein is depicted. The node 106 may include elements and functionalitysimilar to the node 106 shown in FIG. 2, except that, for example, thenode 106 may include two SDRs 202 (e.g., a first SDR 202-1 and a secondSDR 202-2 as shown in FIG. 6) collectively configured to support threewaveforms (e.g., two BLOS waveforms (e.g., an MUOS waveform and a NB UHFSATCOM waveform) and a LOS waveform).

For example, the node 106 may include a first SDR 202 (e.g., as shown inFIG. 2) configured to support transmit and receive communications usinga Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform. The node 106 may includea second SDR 202 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4) to support transmit andreceive communications using a line of sight waveform whilesimultaneously being configured to support receive communications usinga narrowband (NB) ultra high frequency (UHF) satellite communication(SATCOM) waveform. The node 106 may include a SATCOM antenna 224configured to transmit and receive the communications using the MUOSwaveform and to receive the communications using the NB UHF SATCOMwaveform. The node 106 may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) andtriplexer assembly (e.g., 230 or 904). The first and second SDRs 202 mayshare the SATCOM antenna 224 and the LNA and triplexer assembly (e.g.,230 or 904). Each of the first and second SDRs 202 may include some orall of the elements of the SDR 202 shown in FIGS. 2 and/or 4.

The LOS waveform may be a half-duplex waveform and may use a narrowband25 kHz bandwidth or wideband bandwidth of 1.2 megahertz (MHz), 5 MHz, 10MHz, or 32 MHz. For example, the LOS waveform may be Single ChannelGround and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), HaveQuick (HQ), SecondGeneration Anti-jam Tactical UHF Radio for NATO (SATURN), or SoldierRadio Waveform (SRW).

The MUOS waveform may be a slotted code-division multiple access (CDMA)direct sequence spread spectrum waveform, and the MUOS waveform may be amilitary waveform.

For example, the second SDR 202 may include the auxiliary receiver 222.In some embodiments, the second SDR 202 may support a singlereceive-only 5 or 25 kilohertz (kHz) NB UHF SATCOM channel using theauxiliary receiver 222. In some embodiments, the second SDR 202 maysupport multiple receive-only 5 or 25 kilohertz (kHz) NB UHF SATCOMchannels using the auxiliary receiver 222. For example, the second SDR202 may support the multiple receive-only 5 or 25 kilohertz (kHz) NB UHFSATCOM channels using the auxiliary receiver 222 by using at least one1.2 megahertz (MHz), 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 32 MHz intermediate frequency(IF) wideband filter.

In some embodiments, the second SDR 202 may can receive 25 kHz, 1.2 MHz,5 MHz, 10 MHz, and/or 32 MHz LOS waveforms on a main channel whilereceiving one 5 or 25 kHz UHF SATCOM channel using a 25 kHz aux channel.Multiple 5 and/or 25 kHz UHF SATCOM channels can be receivedsimultaneously using the 1, 5, 10, and/or 32 MHz intermediate frequency(IF) filters available in the second SDR 202. The first SDR 202 may beconfigured to transmit and receive using the MUOS waveform.

In current radios, the UHF SATCOM waveform is fixed frequency that doesnot hop hence such that the waveform can be easily deniable. In someembodiments, for the second SDR 202, by allocating multiple 5 and/or 25kHz channels a user can transmit/receive randomly on any of the channelsallocated thereby simulating frequency hopping. In some embodiments, thesecond SDR 202 in FIG. 4 may be able to transform CRE 216B from usingthe legacy NB UHF SATCOM waveform into a more robust anti-jam BLOSwaveform. By using wider channels (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and/or 32 MHz),CRE 216B may have a receive band that can be digitized with multiplechannels decoded simultaneously. The entire legacy NB UHF SATCOM receiveband is only 30 MHz; in some embodiments, if a 32 MHz intermediatefrequency (IF) filter is used, the entire band can be digitized and anyset of channels may be processed simultaneously to the level supportedby processing resources.

For example, assuming that in a region of interest, two BLOS satellites102 are visible, and each of two satellites 102 has 32 channels.Typically, one channel is assigned to the second SDR 202 on a dedicatedor time shared (e.g., time-division multiple access (TDMA)) basis, whichcould permit an enemy to jam just one channel to deny BLOS SATCOMaccess. In an exemplary embodiment, the second SDR 202 may be allocatedtwo BLOS channels, that vary with time on a pseudo-random basis on eachsatellite 102, such that at any time instant the second SDR 202 can beon any of the 4 channels within the visible 64 channels giving SDR 202 asimplistic anti-jam factor of 16 (12 dB). This anti-jam factor mayassume that the entire message is sent on one frequency. If, however,the message is coded across 4 frequencies such that the second SDR 202can recover the message even if the enemy jams two of the frequenciesthen the waveform becomes a higher anti-jam waveform as the enemy has tohit three or more channels out of the four, at the right time instant,picked pseudo-randomly out of possible 64 to send our message (which maybe a hypergeometric distribution problem). The end result is that thisapproach may force the enemy to jam all the UHF SATCOM frequencies todeny access to the UHF SATCOM. To totally deny tactical BLOScommunication to the node 106, they have to deny both the BLOS waveforms(e.g., the MUOS waveform and the NB UHF SATCOM waveform).

For example, for the second SDR 202, the modem 204 may include at leastone processor configured to process the BLOS waveform and the LOSwaveform in parallel. For example, the at least one processor mayinclude at least one waveform general purpose processor 206 and at leastone waveform field-programmable gate array (FPGA) 208, wherein thewaveform general purpose processor 206 may be configured to process theBLOS waveform and the LOS waveform in parallel, wherein the FPGA 208 maybe configured to process the BLOS waveform and the LOS waveform inparallel.

The second SDR 202 may include or may be communicatively coupled to acryptographic subsystem (CSS) 226 communicatively coupled to one or moreof the at least one processor (e.g., the processor 206 and/or the FPGA208). The CSS 226 may be configured to run at least one cryptographicequipment application (CEA) used for both of the BLOS waveform and theLOS waveform. The CSS 226 may be configured to maintain keys forencryption of the BLOS encrypted communications and the LOS encryptedcommunications. The CSS 226 in the SDR 202 can support multiple CEAssimultaneously to support LOS and BLOS waveforms operating at the samesecurity level. Modern encryption modes can be used for both the LOSwaveforms as well as the BLOS waveform, which can leverage key-agilityof the CSS 226 such that the two waveforms may use the same set of CEAsat the same security level with only the user data encryption keys usedbeing different. The CSS 226 can support multiple keys simultaneouslywhen using the same CEA.

As shown in FIGS. 5-6, the first and second SDRs 202 may share theantenna 224 (e.g., a SATCOM antenna) and an LNA and triplexer assembly(e.g., 904), which may include a triplexer 804. The triplexer 804 may beconfigured to support a MUOS waveform receive path 806-3 from theantenna 224, a NB UHF SATCOM waveform receive path 806-2 from theantenna 224, and a MUOS waveform transmit path 806-1 to the antenna 224.For example, each of the NB UHF SATCOM waveform receive path 806-2 andthe MUOS waveform receive path 806-3 may include a low noise amplifier(LNA) 802. For example, each of the NB UHF SATCOM waveform receive path806-2 and the MUOS waveform receive path 806-3 may include ananalog-to-digital converter 212, and the MUOS waveform transmit path806-1 may include a digital-to-analog converter 210.

In some embodiments, the MUOS waveform may be a slotted code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA) direct sequence spread spectrum waveform. TheMUOS waveform may be a military waveform. For example, the other BLOSwaveform may be NB UHF SATCOM waveform. For example, the LOS waveformmay be at least one of SINCGARS, HQ, SATURN, or amplitude modulation(AM)/frequency modulation (FM). Processing resources of the platform maydictate the waveforms used. For example, the NB UHF SATCOM waveform maybe a 25 kilohertz (kHz) waveform, and the MUOS waveform may be a 5megahertz (MHz) waveform. In some embodiments, the second SDR 202 may beconfigured to receive the NB UHF SATCOM encrypted communications overmultiple channels. In some embodiments, the NB UHF SATCOM waveform mayrequire substantially more processing power than the narrowband LOSwaveforms. The second SDR 202 may be configured to simultaneouslyprocess the LOS waveform and the NB UHF SATCOM waveform, whereas currentradios are only capable of processing one of the LOS waveform or the NBUHF SATCOM waveform, which would currently require multiple radios toutilize both the LOS waveform and the NB UHF SATCOM waveform.

In some embodiments, the second SDR 202 may have the ability to receiveboth NB UHF SATCOM waveform communications and LOS waveformcommunications without increasing the number of radios on the platform.The LOS waveforms may be half-duplex waveforms and, for example, may useonly the main channel of the CRE 216A such that the aux receive channelof the CRE 216B may be unused for LOS waveform communications. Since LOSwaveforms are low processing requirement waveforms, the second SDR 202may be capable of supporting the LOS waveforms, as well as the NB UHFSATCOM waveform if the antenna 224 is connected to the aux receivechannel of the CRE 216B. To achieve the antenna 224 being connected tothe aux receive channel of the CRE 216B of the second SDR 202, someembodiments may include the triplexer 804 and the LNA 802 on each of theNB UHF SATCOM waveform receive path 806-2 and the MUOS waveform receivepath 806-3.

In some embodiments, the waveform FPGA 208 of the second SDR 202 may bepartitioned to process the LOS and BLOS (e.g., NB UHF SATCOM) waveformsin parallel. For example, for an LOS mode, the second SDR 202 mayoperate normally, where the FPGA 208 may use the D2A 210 to transmit the25 kHz LOS waveform and may uses the A2D 212 attached to the mainchannel of the CRE 216A for receiving the LOS waveform. In someembodiments, the second SDR 202 may be configured to use the aux channelof the CRE 216B for reception of BLOS waveform communications. Whentransmitting LOS communications and receiving BLOS communications, theD2A 210 and aux A2D 212 (e.g., coupled to the CRE 216B) may be in use,and when receiving both waveforms, both A2Ds 212 may be processedsimultaneously. In some embodiments, the second SDR 202 may beconfigured to only receive the BLOS communications and not transmit BLOScommunications. In some embodiments, if the second SDR 202 is onlyprocessing a single 25 kHz channel, both the main channel of the CRE216A and aux channels of the CRE 216B can be configured with 25 kHzfilters. In some embodiments, if the second SDR 202 is configured toprocess multiple 25 kHz UHF SATCOM channels, the second SDR 202 can useone of the 1.2 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 32 MHz intermediate frequencies(IF) depending on the separation of the channels to be processed. Insome embodiments, the second SDR 202 may have the capability to processall 30 MHz of the UHF SATCOM if needed.

In some embodiments, the waveform GPP 206 of the second SDR 202 may be amulti-core system on a chip (SoC) processor that may be capable ofprocessing both BLOS and LOS waveforms simultaneously and communicatingwith the CRE assembly 216 at one end and the CSS 226 at the other end.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exemplary embodiment of the node 106 of thesystem 100 of FIG. 1 according to the inventive concepts disclosedherein is depicted. The node 102 may be configured to supporttransmitting and receiving MUOS communications, to support transmittingand receiving LOS waveform communications, and to support receiving NBUHF SATCOM waveform communications. The node 106 may include a first SDR201-1, a second SDR 202-2, switches 214, a high power amplifier (HPA)902, a modified LNA and triplexer assembly 904, a SATCOM antenna 224-1,a very high frequency (VHF) and/or UHF up antenna 224-2 for LOS waveformcommunications, and/or a VHF and/or UHF down antenna 224-3 for LOSwaveform communications, some or all of which may be communicativelycoupled. The SDR 202-1 may be configured to transmit and receive MUOSwaveform communications. The SDR 202-2 may be configured to transmit andreceive LOS waveform communications and to receive NB UHF SATCOMwaveform communications.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an exemplary embodiment of a method 700according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein may include one ormore of the following steps. Additionally, for example, some embodimentsmay include performing one more instances of the method 700 iteratively,concurrently, and/or sequentially. Additionally, for example, at leastsome of the steps of the method 700 may be performed in parallel and/orconcurrently. Additionally, in some embodiments, at least some of thesteps of the method 700 may be performed non-sequentially.

A step 702 may include supporting, by a first software-defined radio(SDR) of a node, transmit and receive communications using a BLOSwaveform (e.g., a Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform).

A step 704 may include supporting, by a second SDR of the node, transmitand receive communications using a line of sight waveform whilesimultaneously supporting receive communications using a narrowband (NB)ultra high frequency (UHF) satellite communication (SATCOM) waveform.The node may include a SATCOM antenna configured to transmit and receivethe communications using the BLOS waveform (e.g., the MUOS waveform) andto receive the communications using the NB UHF SATCOM waveform, whereinthe node includes a low noise amplifier (LNA) and triplexer assembly,wherein the first SDR and the second SDR share the SATCOM antenna andthe LNA and triplexer assembly.

Further, the method 700 may include any of the operations disclosedthroughout.

As will be appreciated from the above, embodiments of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein may be directed to a method and a systemincluding at least one software-defined radio (SDR) configured tocommunicate over at least one channel by using at least one BLOSwaveform and/or at least one LOS waveform.

As used throughout and as would be appreciated by those skilled in theart, “at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium” may refer toas at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., at leastone computer-readable medium implemented as hardware; e.g., at least onenon-transitory processor-readable medium, at least one memory (e.g., atleast one nonvolatile memory, at least one volatile memory, or acombination thereof; e.g., at least one random-access memory, at leastone flash memory, at least one read-only memory (ROM) (e.g., at leastone electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)), atleast one on-processor memory (e.g., at least one on-processor cache, atleast one on-processor buffer, at least one on-processor flash memory,at least one on-processor EEPROM, or a combination thereof), at leastone storage device (e.g., at least one hard-disk drive, at least onetape drive, at least one solid-state drive, at least one flash drive, atleast one readable and/or writable disk of at least one optical driveconfigured to read from and/or write to the at least one readable and/orwritable disk, or a combination thereof).

As used throughout, “at least one” means one or a plurality of; forexample, “at least one” may comprise one, two, three, . . . , onehundred, or more. Similarly, as used throughout, “one or more” means oneor a plurality of; for example, “one or more” may comprise one, two,three, . . . , one hundred, or more. Further, as used throughout, “zeroor more” means zero, one, or a plurality of; for example, “zero or more”may comprise zero, one, two, three, . . . , one hundred, or more.

In the present disclosure, the methods, operations, and/or functionalitydisclosed may be implemented as sets of instructions or softwarereadable by a device. Further, it is understood that the specific orderor hierarchy of steps in the methods, operations, and/or functionalitydisclosed are examples of exemplary approaches. Based upon designpreferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy ofsteps in the methods, operations, and/or functionality can be rearrangedwhile remaining within the scope of the inventive concepts disclosedherein. The accompanying claims may present elements of the varioussteps in a sample order, and are not necessarily meant to be limited tothe specific order or hierarchy presented.

It is to be understood that embodiments of the methods according to theinventive concepts disclosed herein may include one or more of the stepsdescribed herein. Further, such steps may be carried out in any desiredorder and two or more of the steps may be carried out simultaneouslywith one another. Two or more of the steps disclosed herein may becombined in a single step, and in some embodiments, one or more of thesteps may be carried out as two or more sub-steps. Further, other stepsor sub-steps may be carried in addition to, or as substitutes to one ormore of the steps disclosed herein.

From the above description, it is clear that the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein are well adapted to carry out the objects and to attainthe advantages mentioned herein as well as those inherent in theinventive concepts disclosed herein. While presently preferredembodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein have beendescribed for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood thatnumerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves tothose skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the broadscope and coverage of the inventive concepts disclosed and claimedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a node, comprising: a firstsoftware-defined radio (SDR), wherein the first SDR is configured tosupport transmit and receive communications using a beyond line of sight(BLOS) waveform; a second SDR, wherein the second SDR is configured tosupport transmit and receive communications using a line of sightwaveform while simultaneously being configured to support receivecommunications using a narrowband (NB) ultra high frequency (UHF)satellite communication (SATCOM) waveform; a SATCOM antenna configuredto transmit and receive the communications using the BLOS waveform andto receive the communications using the NB UHF SATCOM waveform; and alow noise amplifier (LNA) and triplexer assembly; wherein the first SDRand the second SDR share the SATCOM antenna and the LNA and triplexerassembly.
 2. The system of claim 1, the LOS waveform is a half-duplexwaveform.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the LOS waveform uses anarrowband 25 kHz bandwidth or wideband bandwidth of 1.2 megahertz(MHz), 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 32 MHz.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thesecond SDR includes an auxiliary receiver, wherein the second SDRsupports a single receive-only 5 or 25 kilohertz (kHz) NB UHF SATCOMchannel using the auxiliary receiver.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereinthe second SDR includes an auxiliary receiver, wherein the second SDRsupports multiple receive-only 5 or 25 kilohertz (kHz) NB UHF SATCOMchannels using the auxiliary receiver.
 6. The system of claim 5, whereinthe second SDR supports the multiple receive-only 5 or 25 kilohertz(kHz) NB UHF SATCOM channels using the auxiliary receiver by using atleast one 1.2 megahertz (MHz), 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 32 MHz intermediatefrequency (IF) wideband filter.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein eachof the first and second SDRs comprises a modem, a first commonreceiver-exciter (CRE), a second CRE, a front end, an internal poweramplifier, and an auxiliary receiver, wherein some or all of the modem,the first CRE, the second CRE, the front end, the internal poweramplifier, and the auxiliary receiver are communicatively coupled. 8.The system of claim 7, wherein the modem comprises at least oneprocessor.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processorincludes a waveform general purpose processor and a waveformfield-programmable gate array (FPGA).
 10. The system of claim 8, whereineach of the first and second SDRs further comprises a cryptographicsubsystem (CSS) communicatively coupled to one or more of the at leastone processor, the CSS configured to run at least one cryptographicequipment application (CEA).
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the BLOSwaveform is a Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform, wherein theMUOS waveform is a slotted code-division multiple access (CDMA) directsequence spread spectrum waveform, wherein the MUOS waveform is amilitary waveform.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the LOS waveformis Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), HaveQuick(HQ), Second Generation Anti-jam Tactical UHF Radio for NATO (SATURN),or Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW).
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein thenode is a vehicle.
 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a veryhigh frequency (VHF) or UHF up antenna and a VHF or UHF down antenna,the second SDR communicatively coupled to the VHF or UHF up antenna andthe VHF or UHF down antenna.
 15. A method, comprising: supporting, by afirst software-defined radio (SDR) of a node, transmit and receivecommunications using a beyond line of sight (BLOS) waveform; andsupporting, by a second SDR of the node, transmit and receivecommunications using a line of sight waveform while simultaneouslysupporting receive communications using a narrowband (NB) ultra highfrequency (UHF) satellite communication (SATCOM) waveform; wherein thenode includes a SATCOM antenna configured to transmit and receive thecommunications using the BLOS waveform and to receive the communicationsusing the NB UHF SATCOM waveform, wherein the node includes a low noiseamplifier (LNA) and triplexer assembly, wherein the first SDR and thesecond SDR share the SATCOM antenna and the LNA and triplexer assembly.